University leaders are turning to lawyers as they seek to reassure foreign staff members who fear that they will be made to leave the UK after Brexit.

Leading Scottish legal firms have said that they were dealing with a deluge of inquiries from the sector after June’s vote, with the UK government yet to guarantee the future status of overseas workers.

Alastair Sim, director of Universities Scotland, said that principals were facing “painful” conversations with thousands of valued employees and were desperate to offer guarantees but unable to do so.

EU citizens make up 11 per cent of the higher education workforce. Many have been advised to apply for permanent residence, available to those who have lived in the UK for five years. Others face…